The History of Nursing Education

Nursing education is a systematic step-by-step procedure of preparing individuals to qualify as nurses and is considered to be very significant in the healthcare sector (Joseph et al., 2023). It equips the would-be nurses with important information, skills, and morale that could help them offer quality care to their patients. This assessment seeks to assess the evolutions of nursing education from early apprenticeship to current academic models. Moreover, it will also look at the fountains that marked important epochs, known personalities, and other significant changes that were bound to occur in the course of education. This evaluation will also find out how previous formations contributed to the transformation of nursing education nowadays and predict the future formations and challenges that might be meeting nursing education.

Five Influences of Historical Events

History produces a broad array of impacts to nursing and even to its education in which the course of nursing is shaped through various historical events (Yilmaz et al., 2022). These experiences have affected the methods of nursing education and curriculum and a range of elements regarding the scope and perceptions of, nurses and their activities.

As to the influence, it is worthy of mention that the Crimean War influenced nursing and nursing education because Nightingale’s actions helped to create Nightingale Training Schools and attract attention to the problem of nursing qualifications (Headley et al., 2020). While her emphasis on appropriating evidence-based practice and cleanliness is still important to this day, further study of the impact of the war on the nursing profession would require the gathering of views from other types of nurses.

The World Wars led to advancements in nursing and education which increased demand and resulted in school expansion. Having specialized training is important, especially for psychiatric nursing, given the many ways in which the nurse is expected to take part in the front-line treatment (Gleason et al., 2021). The implications of these conflicts are evident to this date showing the importance of flexibility in education in a bid to address the dynamic need of the health care sector. Other possibilities included in future empirical research are the impact of wartime events on the content of nursing curricula and the state of preparedness of the workforce.

The Civil Rights Movement brought out issues of racism in the nursing career leading to changes in nursing and nursing education. The situation of African American nurses includes prejudice and limited opportunities for career advancement before this movement (Iheduruet al., 2024). Advocacy and alterations were done in nursing schools as well as healthcare settings to enhance the issues of diversity and inclusiveness. Hence, to solve the problems related to the structure, nursing programs have started focusing on cultural competency and anti-racism.

Technological advancements in the 21st century have impacted nursing practice and training since nurses even practice through telehealth and use electronic health records. As a result of preparing students for a healthcare system much of which is defined by technology, nursing education has evolved by the use of online resources, virtual classrooms, and simulation labs (Gleason et al., 2021). But again problems related to digital literacy, privacy, and equitable access to materials emerge and there is a need for more research to understand how the application of technology influences learners in nursing and develop a coherent set of best practices.

The COVID-19 global health crisis has affected nursing in general whereby it has made the nurses understand the importance of infection control and interdisciplinary teamwork as well as crisis management in the field of medicine (Headley et al., 2020). There are two key changes in nursing education namely ethical decision making in the context of meager resources and emergency preparedness. These crises demonstrate the integration of healthcare systems as well as the importance of evidence-based therapies.

Importance of Influences

Nursing has been through years and it has got its education system through which its future is also determined. The precursor to modern nursing education can be associated with the nursing revolution that was occasioned by Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War where nursing was shaped to take a formal form with a strong emphasis on evidence-based practice (Gleason et al., 2021). Expansion in the enrollment of nursing schools during World War I and II help to focus attention on the importance of nurses as well as the need for well-planned courses. 

Hence the Civil Rights Movement brought out the issues of diversity and inclusion as well as following it there was an improvement in the education of nurses (Joseph et al., 2023). Moreover, technological advancements in recent years have shifted nursing education and practice in a very considerable way, opening up new opportunities in knowledge acquisition and competence build-up. But it also presents some problems, for instance, to ensure that the patient will not be harmed through technology, one needs to be digitally literate.

Moreover, the outbreak of COVID-19 has made infection control and management of crises important components of nursing education to cope with health emergencies all over the world (Headley et al., 2020). Thus identifying these past effects enables one to see tendencies that could affect Nursing and nursing education in the future, and the need to ensure that the profession is dynamic to the ever-evolving healthcare needs.

Impacts of Trends on Nursing

The need for trained nurses that was evident in historical influences such as the world war I and II led to development of current technological features within nursing. Cutting-edge technologies including telehealth services and electronic health records of patients are completely changing how healthcare is delivered today as well as taught (Gocmen et al., 2022). Nurses should therefore enroll to continue their studies to advance in the knowledge they have in the digital arena which will enhance the productivity and effective communication amongst the health care teams.

Demographics such as the aging population or an increase in cultural diversity will force change in the nursing profession and nursing education. The phenomenon of the Civil Rights Movement also helps to explain the importance of diversity and inclusion of people in the workplace (Yilmaz et al., 2022). Culture-restricted sensitivity and understanding need to be taught to students of nursing to be able to offer better care to patients of different cultures should be included in nursing education while at the same time accommodating the increasing need for experienced and skilled nurses.

This is true because events such as the Crimean War as well as World War One and Two influenced changes in the legislation and policy aspect of health care and nurses’ importance in emergencies (Headley et al., 2020). With the COVID-19 outbreak, there has been a demand for advancement as well as changes in how health care is delivered and the education system, and the need to have efficient public health systems prepared for future disasters. Current approaches to nursing education must flow with the dynamic environment in a bid to prepare graduates to effectively advocate for patient-centered care amidst competing and complex regulatory aspects.

Relationship of Trends with Nursing History

Among the major tendencies affecting the development of nursing history, one can identify numerous roots and undertones. World Wars I and II are the main reasons for revolutionary changes in the technology of education and the delivery of health care(Chamchaum et al., 2021). Such developments from telehealth to electronic health records are indicative of the historical reality of specialty nursing education in the context of medical advancement.

Moreover, alterations in the population that occurred because of movements like the Civil Rights Movement are altering nursing and even nursing education (McCauley et al., 2020).  The medical field needs to adapt according to the needs faced by patients as people live longer, and ethnic diversification increases. Integrating cultural competence in nursing curriculum aligns itself with previous efforts to promote diversity in nursing hence ensuring the nurses provide equal and culturally sensitive care.

However, the nursing profession’s future continues to be determined by changes in the laws and policies governing the healthcare systems that are a consequence of previous crises. For instance, the COVID-19 pandemic brought awareness of the nurses’ needs in critical events and cases that led to the calls for alterations in the healthcare process and educational processes (Headley et al., 2020). Nursing education demonstrates that its goal has always been to serve the public and patients, by producing graduates who understand how to bend policy and adapt personal caring practices.

Conclusion

It is possible to more easily identify and understand potential future changes in the nursing profession based on an examination of the history of nursing and nursing education. All major historical events have affected the progress of the nursing practice and training; it started with Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War up to the civil rights movement and technological advances (Mulkey, 2023). Such issues as the use of technology, adaptability to alteration of population characteristics, and response to changes in healthcare policies remain some of how nursing works hard to provide high-quality patient-centered care. The outlined historical influences cause and effect relationships assist nursing practitioners and educators prepare for the headway and other drawbacks in the future. It will serve to keep the nursing profession dynamic to cater to new challenges in the healthcare sector.

References

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